The effect of desire thinking on facilitating beliefs in alcohol use disorder: An experimental investigation

Abstract

Permissive beliefs relate to the acceptability of engaging in alcohol use in spite of obvious potential negative consequences. They are considered the most proximal and precipitating cognitive factor in the decision to use alcohol and/or the activation of strategies to obtain it. Recent research suggested that ‘desire thinking’ may be involved in the escalation of craving and addictive behaviours and can play a role in strengthening permissive beliefs. The current study tested whether the induction of desire thinking would have a stronger effect on rate of conviction in permissive beliefs compared to a control cognitive response in the form of neutral thinking and whether this effect would be specific for patients with alcohol use disorder (AUD). Thirty AUD patients and 30 social drinkers (SD) were randomly allocated to two thinking manipulation tasks (desire thinking and neutral thinking). Current permissive beliefs were measured before and after manipulation and after a resting phase. Findings showed that desire thinking increased the level of current permissive beliefs after manipulation relative to the neutral thinking condition for the AUD group but not for the SD group. This effect was not purely dependent on the concurrent level of perceived craving. This study supports a causal relationship between the induction of desire thinking and rate of conviction in permissive beliefs and highlights the relevance of targeting desire thinking in the treatment for AUD patients.

Desire thinking as an underlying mechanism in alcohol use disorder and nicotine dependence

“…Impulsivity may lead to addictive behaviour without any self‐controlling, thinking and premeditation bypassing higher‐order thinking (Ostafin et al, 2008) which would include desire thinking. On similar lines, a study has found that metacognitions, known as the activating beliefs in desire thinking (Caselli & Spada, 2015), had no mediating role in the relationship between impulsivity and problematic smartphone use (Casale et al, 2021). In addition, it is possible that impulsivity may be more closely associated with behavioural constructs rather than cognitive processes (e.g., desire thinking) so that a study also has shown that desire thinking is more correlated with behavioural aspects of impulsivity (i.e., motor impulsivity) than its cognitive facets (i.e., intentional impulsivity and non‐planning) (Aydın et al, 2022).…”

“…In individuals with AUD, desire thinking has been found to strengthen permissive beliefs about alcohol use (Caselli et al, 2021) and increase craving and alcohol‐related behaviours (Caselli et al, 2016, 2017; Kavanagh et al, 2009; Martino et al, 2017, 2019; Solem et al, 2020). Individuals with nicotine dependence experience high levels of desire thinking beyond negative affect and nicotine craving (Caselli, Nikcevic, et al, 2012; Solem et al, 2020).…”

Integrating Desire Thinking into the I-PACE Model: a Special Focus on Internet-Use Disorders

“…As with other affective and cognitive processes specific for addictive disorders (e.g., craving, cue reactivity), desire thinking is observable among substance-use disorders as well as addictive behaviors and internet-use disorders, respectively. It has been investigated in the context of problem alcohol drinking [8,[14][15][16][17][18][19] next to a few studies on tobacco use [5,20,21] and eating behaviors [22][23][24] and successively gains an attentional focus among addictive behaviors (for a meta-analysis, see [25•]) and specific internet-use disorders. As such, it has been investigated in the context of gaming [26][27][28][29], pornography viewing [27,30], social networks use [20,27], shopping and gambling [27], and the general use of the internet [5, 7, 31•, 32, 33], indicative of its relevance among (potentially problematic) online behaviors.…”

The 6Ps of Preparing a Manuscript: Prior Preparation Prevents Potentially Poor Performance

“…Vacillation is the scourge of the writer and the barrier to success and this quality is found in every endeavor of human existence. In part, it stems from permission giving thoughts , a behavior that is well recognized and understood in drug and alcohol addiction: “I’ll do it tomorrow, next week, never..” . Recognizing this phenomenon is important as it is a behavior that can be corrected.…”